A Forum for Orthodox Jewish thought on Halacha, Hashkafa, and the social issues of our time.

Wednesday, May 09, 2012

The Price of Being Overzealous

I am not a huge fan of groups like Shomrim. This is a Jewish
neighborhood watch group that helps protect residents and tries to prevent any criminal
types from entering and carrying out their own nefarious ends. Shomrim regularly patrol Jewish neighborhoods in groups every night, if I understand
correctly.

I am not a fan because I don’t believe in the kind of
vigilante justice that sometimes results.

That said, I also understand that there are not enough
police around to do that job for them. More than once have I heard cases where
innocent Jews were saved by the actions of groups like these. Victims have expressed
their eternal gratitude to them. Residents of those neighborhoods feel safer.

So it is a double edged sword. The question is: Do these
groups do more good than harm? Is their existence a net gain for the community
or is the potential for hurting innocent people too great?

I’m not sure I can answer that question. I was never a
victim and my neighborhood does not have Shomrim.

There have been two incidents recently where this question
has arisen. One is the case of Trayvon Martin, a black youth who was shot and
killed by an over-zealous white neighborhood watchman named George Zimmerman (not
Jewish). Zimmerman was arrested and charged with 2nd degree murder. He was then released on bail. That case has yet to be tried.

The other case, is about the Werdesheim brothers, one of
whom – Eliyahu (pictured above) belongs to the Shomrim in Baltimore. He was convicted of assaulting a black teenager - 15 year old Corey Ausby.
Eliyahu’s brother Avi was acquitted.

Here is what happened according to the Judge who tried the
case. From the Baltimore Sun:

The Werdesheim brothers followed and frightened Ausby, now
16, as he walked down a residential street in Park Heights, causing the teen to
pull a nail-studded board from a construction site, White said in her ruling.
To get Ausby to drop the board, Eliyahu struck him in the head with a
walkie-talkie and held him on the ground, she concluded.

The defense claimed that Eliyahu Werdesheim was acting in
self defense. I’m not so sure that is accurate here either. Certainly the judge
didn’t buy it.

I don’t know the details of the case other than what has
been reported in the media. But a trial was held and a judgment was rendered. Barring
any evidence to the contrary I do not see this as anti-Semitism. A judge seems
to have made an honest decision based on the evidence presented and the credibility
of the witnesses.

Except for one thing. The victim in the case who was put on
the stand to testify did something completely bizarre. From the article:

Ausby was brought to court last week to testify, but
tearfully told Judge White he wanted the charges against the Werdesheim
brothers dropped. He refused to respond to many questions and was not
cross-examined by the defense attorneys, so White struck everything he said in
court from the evidentiary record.

To me this casts doubt on the entire veracity of the victim’s
claim. If he is asking that the case be dropped, then it would seem to me that the case against the Werdesheim brothers is weakened to the point of
reasonable doubt. At the very least it should indicate that the suspicions the defendants
had about the malicious intent of the alleged victim were probably justified.

Bearing that in mind, I don’t see how she could convict him
of assault. Ignoring it in a legalistic sense by throwing out his entire
testimony does not seem to serve justice.

But… like I said. I do not know what really happened. I wasn’t
there. Nor was I at the trial. So it is hard for me to say with absolute
certainly if justice was carried out or not. But at the same time I have to
wonder why the erratic behavior of the victim on the stand was not considered.

This is a sad day for Eliyahu
Werdesheim and his family. But it should serve as a lesson to Shomrim to not be
too quick to take matters into their own hands.

In this case, Eliyahu should not have personally confronted
Ausby but should have instead called 911 and followed him. There was no one in
immediate danger. Had there been a potential assault to an innocent person - that would have been a different story. But no
one claims there was.

If there is going to be a neighborhood watch group like the
Shomrim, I think they should live up to their name and… watch! And not try and take matters into their
own hands. In the Werdesheim case this seems to have been what happened.

I don’t think Eliyahu Werdesheim is a bad person. But even
though his intentions were good, no good came of his actions. And now he will
have to pay a price. I just hope it is not too high.

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About Me

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.